AFLW - #13 Cora Staunton

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Cora Staunton (#13)
270890_54_news_hub_220405_656x500.jpg

DOB: 13/12/81
Height: 172 cm
Position: Forward

Cora Staunton is an Irish women's footballer, best known as a Ladies Gaelic footballer, winning four All-Ireland Finals and three Ladies' National Football League titles with Mayo; she has also been an All Star on ten occasions. In addition to playing Gaelic football, Staunton has also played three other football codes at a senior level. In 2006, as an association footballer, she won an FAI Women's Cup winner's medal with the Mayo Ladies League representative team. In 2013, she began playing rugby union for Castlebar Ladies in the Connacht Women's League. She has also played for the Ireland women's international rules football team.

Staunton's decision to play AFL came after a conversation with her compatriot Nick Walsh, an assistant coach at GWS. She was drafted by the Giants in the 2017 AFL Women's Draft, and is the first Irish player to be signed to an AFLW list.This is Staunton’s first experience playing AFL Women’s football and will play a role as a marking forward for the GIANTS in 2018.

Cora brings professionalism and an experienced head (albeit needing to adapt to AFL) to the GWS forward line. Welcome Cora, and I hope your stay with GWS is mutually rewarding.

Cora debuted in the 2018 AFLW round 1 match against Melbourne, and scored a goal first game.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...m/news-story/32b2571568bc684099a512ca4c59ec94
 
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Irish legend Cora Staunton embraces steep learning curve at GWS Giants
http://www.smh.com.au/afl/greater-w...ning-curve-at-gws-giants-20180210-h0vvha.html

Cora Staunton is arguably the greatest female Gaelic footballer Ireland has produced, a 23-year veteran at the highest level who is a sporting hero in her homeland. But her three women's national league titles, four all-Ireland championships with County Mayo and 11 all star selections count for nothing in her quest to master the oval-shaped Sherrin with the GWS Giants. The 36-year-old Irishwoman is two games into her fledgling AFLW career after being drafted at pick No.45 last year and admits she's still learning the intricacies of Australian rules football. Similarities abound between the Australian game and Ireland's indigenous code, but the difference in ball shape and the increased tackling requirements in AFLW have meant her two months with the club have come with a sharp learning curve.
 
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Cora has been a massive acquisition for GWS. We need to bottle her skills and professionalism for our up and coming young forwards.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-03-16/aflw-irish-giant-ready-to-take-final-step

The Giants must beat the Lions to be any chance of making next week's decider, and Irish key forward Cora Staunton believes her side will relish the high stakes of the clash. "The games we've needed to win [when we've] been under massive pressure, we've managed to step up and perform," she said. "The draw with Adelaide was disappointing, but it kept us in it. Going to Perth and playing Fremantle and getting the win was huge, and against the Bulldogs we stepped it up another level again. The team is growing and growing, Alan has given us massive confidence in each game and I think that's spread throughout the team. We talk a lot about the collective – if we all play well and win our individual battles, then collectively we'll win."

Staunton has played a significant role in the Giants' turnaround, and her gradual improvement has been one of the season's great stories. The Gaelic football legend, a multiple All-Ireland representative, only took up footy late last year, but played the best game of her short career in last week's 18-point win over the top-of-the-ladder Bulldogs. Staunton's attack on the footy is relentless, she very rarely loses her feet, and her skills are growing, making her a dangerous weapon inside 50. A superstar in Ireland, Staunton has quickly adjusted to life as an AFLW player and hasn't stopped learning the game since she arrived in Australia in December. "Every day of training is a school day for me and every match is a hard exam," she said. "Each game I try to learn two or three things and bring them into the next week, and I'll sit down with Alan and ask him what I need to do to improve. It's a different role to the one I play back home where I'm the main scorer, but it doesn't matter if it's laying a tackle or putting pressure on or setting up a score, it's about whatever is best for the team. Whatever Alan or the girls ask me to do, that's what I'll do."

While most of the world's Irish population are planning a weekend of celebrations for Saint Patrick's Day on Saturday, Staunton has other ideas. "It's a big day back home, but it's a massive weekend for the Giants and we're one step away from probably the biggest thing the club has achieved," she said. "Hopefully come Saturday I'll be planning to play in a Grand Final."

Too bloody right! :thumbsu:

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-03-16/aflw-giants-rapid-rise-no-fluke

"Then we got Cora," Chloe Kurdas said.

Cora Staunton is one of the most decorated Irish athletes of all time. Ten All-Ireland titles (premierships) at club and county level, with Carnacon and Mayo. She's got 10 All Star awards (equivalent of All-Australian), having played top-level Gaelic football since she was 13. The 36-year-old has also played soccer and rugby union, before trying her hand at Aussie rules about six months ago.

"It was quite an interesting conversation about her," Kurdas said. "Al said, 'I've got this woman. Bear with me, she's from Ireland.' Cora's been a really terrific addition, good person, elite in her process, experience and leadership, really professional."
 

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What a debut AFLW season by this fantastic person and female footballer. A highly experienced gaellic footballer, she accepted the challenge of AFLW and I suspect that she has been an outstanding role model for our young players. While she is still coming to terms with some of our playing rules and styles (such as kicking style), she has nevertheless lifted our forward play upwards from season 2017 by her sheer determination and strength in playing the game. Well done, Cora, and hope to see you back in season 2019.

By the numbers
  • 2018 Season Averages
    Games Played 7
    • Kicks 5.6
    • Handballs 2.6
    • Disposals 8.1
    • Marks 1.9
    • Hit-Outs 0.0
    • Tackles 2.0
    • Goals 0.7
    • AFL Fantasy 36.7
2018 Highlights
Statistics Best Opponent Round
Kicks 10 Collingwood Rd 3
Handballs 7 Western Bulldogs Rd 6
Disposals 13 Collingwood Rd 3
Marks 5 Brisbane Lions Rd 7
Hit-outs 0 --
Tackles 4 Fremantle Rd 5
Goals 1 Brisbane Lions Rd 7
AFL Fantasy 52 Brisbane Lions Rd 7
 
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This story by Cora Staunton is a fanstastic read, and shows a lot of what our club is doing right. Full story at: https://www.thesportschronicle.com/gaa/cora-staunton-home-away/

At the Greater Western Sydney Giants, the women share the same facilities as the men. The only difference is that we are semi-professional, so only contracted to fourteen hours a week, but we have equal access to the club. I’ve a swipe card to come and go as I please, could be 11 o’clock at night or seven in the morning. No problem. The men don’t have extra facilities or staff because they are men. It is because their sport is fully professional and fully established.

Mayo GAA are a long way off this sort of male/female interaction. The money and facilities make it easier in Australia. We don’t have that at home. Certainly, there could be more crossover in McHale Park and the men’s gym. On the evenings the lads aren’t using it, we should be in there. The only way I can describe the GWS Giants facility is to compare it to the new Munster rugby set-up at the University of Limerick, except it is more advanced. Everything is in the one building. The pitches are a lot better (the weather helps). We have our own changing rooms, so do the men. There are physio rooms, ice baths, there’s a meeting room for forwards, for the midfielders, another for backs, as well as a full team room, a canteen and an education room. There is also a massive indoor area called The Cage because, believe you me, in Sydney it does rain. We’ve had thunder storms. For a light session we can go into The Cage and do skills.

I instantly connected with Al McConnell. He has forced me to think differently as a footballer, which helps as I am playing a new game and hope to keep doing so. Al is director of coaching for the entire club. One of his jobs is to analyse the coaches of the men’s team – he will sit in the box, watching them, then listen to their audio and watch the match again to see if each coach made the right decision at the right time. If only I could bring him home and get him a job coaching Mayo!

The women’s AFL is here to stay. The men’s AFL are pumping a lot of money into it. There’s still only eight teams so the season is short. Next year it goes to 10 teams, with plans to keep it growing to 14 and eventually 18 teams. They don’t have the talent pool (yet) to be picking 14 panels but athletes are coming in from netball, cricket and other games.
They will get there. It’s so impressive to see the work behind the scenes and promotion of the AFLW in mainstream Australian media.

The best thing is what I’ve also found the hardest to adapt to – their training methods. So much is focused on recovery, looking after your body, not over training. I want to be out on the pitch. I’d have them driven demented: “Why are we not training on the pitch tonight? Why are we doing another recovery session?” They want me to sit down and relax but kicking football is relaxing to me. It’s my mental health time! Training on-pitch is never more than 80 minutes. Never. The gym session, an hour, never a minute more, follows each pitch session. Everything is monitored, videoed, so there is no hiding, no slacking. Take an average week… Match on the Saturday. Fly home Sunday (more often than not). In Monday afternoon for recovery – bike 15 minutes, ice bath, stretching – review the match which takes an hour, we eat together, everyone gets a massage and then home. Tuesday and Thursday pitch sessions are very light. You won’t be killed in any way. I find that very hard. They have kind of come around to my way of thinking (in that they let me do more than the others) but they try to hold me back. I went in early today and did a kicking session by myself but that had to be passed by the physios and the coaches. I am constantly negotiating times with them. We agreed on 30 minutes but I stayed out there for 50 minutes. Sure no one was watching, I think. That’s the biggest thing – you train hard in preseason but once the matches begin it’s about maintaining and training focuses on skills. No flogging in Sydney.
 
Determined Staunton Building Form
Cora Staunton is looking to keep building after a big return to form.
By Adam Curley, AFL Media - 3 hrs ago
Cora-Staunton-Four-Goals.jpg

Cora Staunton's match-winning four-goal haul against Richmond last week wasn't just a boost for the GIANTS' finals hopes, it was a remarkable feat just over 10 months after her sporting career looked over.
When Staunton broke her leg playing local footy in May last year, most not only ruled her out of the 2020 NAB AFL Women's season but doubted her ability to get back on any field at all.
The 38-year-old is a Gaelic football legend in Ireland and there were genuine fears that retirement was her only option after she broke the tibia and fibula in her right leg.
However, those close to Staunton, especially GIANTS coach Alan McConnell, backed her to not only return to playing, but produce her best footy.
Staunton incredibly completed her rehabilitation to be fit for the GIANTS' season-opener, but after booting just one goal from the opening three games, she admits even she had second thoughts about rushing back.
But a brilliant performance against the Tigers last week saw Staunton back to her best, powerful and explosive, and dangerous inside 50, and she couldn't be happier.
"It's been a tough ride," she said.
"The first month of the season didn't go the way I would have liked performance-wise, but the injury was a big one both physically and mentally, and I realised I have to be patient.
"I knew I still had it in me, and I suppose some people doubted me.
"I probably had a few doubts myself creeping in over the last couple of weeks, because my form wasn't going that well.
"But you just have to keep ticking away and believing in yourself, and it was nice to get a bit of reward."
Staunton might have been missing her fellow Irish goalkicker Yvonne Bonner (ankle) against Richmond, but the re-emergence of Rebecca Privitelli gives the GIANTS two exciting targets, who not only mark the footy, but have the mobility to be just as effective at ground level.
With the strength of Jacinda Barclay and rucks Erin McKinnon and Jess Allan also inside 50 at times, and Bonner set to return should the GIANTS make the finals, the team has plenty of options to kick a winning score, which has long been the club's biggest issue in AFLW.
"We don't care who kicks the goals on any given day, as long as we're kicking them," Staunton said.
"The biggest thing this team craves is consistency and we've been a bit up and down, so going into this weekend, we really want to put together a couple of back-to-back quality performances."
McConnell said this week's clash with Adelaide on the road will be another huge test for his forward line.
"We do have a lot of girls ahead of the footy that can mark the ball, which requires us to get it down there with some speed, because otherwise we can get caught out a bit with keeping it in there," he said.
"It's an interesting combination and I continue to believe that we can get there in the end with the players we've got.
"That’s why I don't fear any team in the competition."
 
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